Tee530 and rfraser529 gave an excellent rundown of the merits of both. It's been a while since I've read either but I found Orchid Fever to be an interesting and enjoyable summation of the history of orchid collecting/hunting/pillaging with an attempt to understand the motivations behind those doing it. The Orchid Thief was readable but a bit disappointing. I think the problem is that Orlean either didn't have or didn't portray a grasp of what she was writing about. The book is jam packed with misinfromation both about orchids (I found this most grating) and the situations she was writing about with a bias that seemed to imply bad or lazy research. I found The Orchid Thief somewhat void of conservation ethic, or maybe just flippant about it's importance, which left a bit of a sour after taste. I found this a difficult position to take for a story essentially about a person who abused government regulations pertaining to Native American land rights to illegally collect plants for commercial gain. Whether or not you agree with Hansen's opinion of the effectiveness of CITES etc and the motivations behind those who flaunt it, he at least addresses the issue seriously.

Seasun, a south window is great, but 5 feet away is too far. You are not giving your phal enough light and it will decline into death if you leave it where it is. Orchids take some time to die, so you'll think you're doing fine, doing ok, maybe not growing like it should. Oh NO!!! What happened to my beautiful orchid???? Here's how where to put the phal figures: phals need about 1000 footcandles of light to grow and bloom. *Outside* at high noon = app 10,000 FC. You are never getting anything near that indoors because of the ceiling and roof of the house cutting off that directly overhead sun. All you are getting is the slanting sun, of much less than 10,000FC. Cut in half by the window glass and screen. Cut in half again *for every foot away from the window*. At 5 feet from your south window you are giving it *100FC or less* by my fairly generous estimate of what your south window actually lets in. In St Louis, I can keep phals *in* a south window with no damage, just far enough from the pane for a shade to slide down. Start moving it closer to the window. The first day move it to about 2 feet from the window. Leave it there a day or two, feeling the leaves where the sun falls on them (if it does). If they are hot, it's too much light, move at least 6" further away. If barely warm or cool, move closer. Repeat above, moving it 6" closer to the window every couple of days til you are at the place where nearer the window = leaves are hot (or it's in the window). There's been a lot of discussion with newbies about how much light to give phals here lately. Mostly newbies wanting to argue for keeping it on an inside wall in a bookcase where it looks great, more experienced growers arguing for more light, LOTS more. Your phal will love you if you do a search for these threads. Use the search function and put in something lilike "phal + light". If you leave it where it is and it dies in 6 months, put it down to needing to learn things the hard way. Actually that's how most of us learned this lesson.

If any of you NJ Orchid Lovers are looking for some new additions to your collection, here is some valuable info! Yesterday I was at the Super Stop and Shop in Clifton, NJ and they had a bunch of phal orchids on clearance in their florist dept. (marked down from $16.99 to $3.99!) All had spikes. It appears that they were marked down merely because they were no longer in bloom. All of them had very healthy looking leaves and roots. I bought two myself, but am running out of room, so I had to leave the rest! I don't remember the names of the ones that they had, but i remember they had a dark pink/raspberry one with yellow undertones, yellow with red lip, and a few others to choose from. Enjoy!

These are two very interesting comments, since I actually thought the Philadelpdia Flower Show was one of the better ones I've seen. . .but Ginny's observation, now that I reflect on my visit, may be quite accurate: there may have been fewer flowering plants than the past, and almost NO introduction of new plants, which has always been one of the hallmarks of the Philly show. Hard times this season for the nursery trade? After faithfully trudging to this show every year (for what seems like an eternity!), I have developed the habit of rooting out the often overlooked uniqueness of some of the smaller exhibits, rather than just being bowled over by (or yawning over) the major exhibitors. This year was no exception: the bulb specialist, Jacque Armand, delivered the most cohesive (and breathtakingly beautiful) display that I can recall from this veteran. Another favorite: the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades (really!) presented an intense Tuscan landscape - house, terrace and garden, in exquisite detail - but the best part of it (and missed by many!) was the compelling video catalogue of the whole projects genesis, from initial design to final installation at the show, with the video cleverly tucked away beneath a shrub so as not to detract from the exhibit. Also fascinating: the Temple Univ. ("Yeah, KT!") Ambler Schools' use of copper gutter as a design element in a garden, complete with an incredibly lovely "rain curtain" - but best of all, all the copper led to a series of water spills which ended up as the center of a "water table". . . picture a large stone table whose center rectangle was a shimmering surface of constantly recyled water. I can just imagine eating dinner there and asking someone at the far end of the table to "please pass the salad". . .and then they would just float the salad bowl down to you !!! Ah, ha! All of which makes me realize that I tend to look at the Flower Show very much from a designer perspective, not just as massive floral display. . .which might explain the difference in perception. But, honestly, there is just so MUCH going in that vast Convention Hall, that there's bound to be something for everyone. One of my favorites has always been the numerous "competitions", and these Delaware Valley gardeners are deadly serious about what they're doing! This year, there were the usual table settings, porch entryways, balcony baskets, huge "themed" urn plantings, some novel "sustainable" back yards - and a new one, I don't ever recall seeing: "Elegante Craveat", or men's ties decorated with pressed plant materials! Much of the fun of these competitive exhibits is comparing YOUR impressions with those of the judges (they are judged twice during the Show: once during Saturday preview, and again on Wednesday) - it's not that unusual for a single exhibit to win the blue (1st) one day, but only get yellow (3rd) from a second judge. . .but ALL the judges' notes are posted for ALL entries so you can follow their thought process. In a post earlier this month, I fantisized about spending an entire week at the Show, attending ALL the lectures and demos, ferreting out every possible detail from every exhibit. Well, I got a preview of that experience: after my knee gave out after only six hours on Wednesday, I returned on Sunday (closing day) for another four hours - and accidentally discovered something worth knowing. . .the Show opens at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday (I had always gone at 10:00am weekdays, deliberately avoiding the legendary weekend crowds), and when I turned up a 8:00am yesterday morning, I practically had the place to myself! What an unmitigated joy to roam about without the usual attendant high-energy crowd activity. . .and it REMAINED relatively tranquil throughout the first two hours, only slowly picking up after 10:00am. When I checked out at noon, I felt as if I'd just had a private showing. . .the only other time it gets like that is mid-week evenings after 6:00pm. An old-timer working the info booth confirmed my observation. . .she warned that the first Sunday at 8:00am was a zoo (opening day), but the last Sunday morning was one of the best-kept secrets of show attendance! So: one more Flower Show to go ("Springfest", later this week in Northwestern New Jersey) and then it's "Off to the Races", Spring officially arrives and we can all fall back into our annual cycle of creativity and craziness for another season - see you in the garden ! Carl